Flexible rail joint



Patented Oct. 15, 1940 IPx-mrsNT oFFlcE FLEXIBLE RAIL JOINT IBancroft G.Braine, Montclair, N. J., assignor to `Poor & Company, New York, N. Y.,a corpora.-

tion of Delaware Applicationoctober 2s, 1937, serial N0. 171,573

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improvement in `the flexible type of railjoints providing practical and eifective construction to support theextremeend portions of therails and to permit the natural 5 wavemotionsl of the rails to pass substantially `uninterrupted through thejoint despite the loading engagement of the head of the bar with therails throughout the length of the joint.

The invention vpossesses special `utility and practical importance inconnection with rail joints of the type wherein the head of the bar hasa relatively narrow line of contact with the rails, this beingexemplified more particularly in the headfree type of rail joint whereinthe spice bar has its loading engagement at its upper inner `corner withthe head fillets of the rails, and while the invention is particularlyand preferably apM plioable to the headfree type of rail joint it also`is applicable to a type of rail joint wherein the head of the splicebar may have a relatively narrow or line contact with the underside ofthe rail head and which ultimately would take a headfree seating in therail head fillets.

In carrying forward the invention it is recognized very undesirable tohave the joint so stiff and rigid as to disadvantageously preclude thepossibility of the natural wave motion of the rails passing freelythrough the joint. Accordingly, one important object of the presentinven- "3'0 tion is `to provide a rail joint wherein the splice bar hasuninterrupted loading engagement at its upper, inner corner with thehead llets of the rails throughout the length of the joint, and which,at the same time embodies provision to permit the natural wave motion ofthe rails to pass substantially uninterruptedly through the joint.`

In a rail joint, an accurate initial rit between the splice bar and therails is very desirable, as

otherwise tightening of the joint bolts may result in the setting up ofdamagingstresses and strains in the joint. Since, however, rails andsplice bars are essentially rolled products, and since there areunavoidable variations inthe dimensions of rolled products, aggravatedby unavoidable surface irregularities, a perfect initial fit between thesplice bar and the rails of a rail joint is practically impossible ofattain-ment. Moreover, especially ina headfree rail joint, any imperfec-5o tion in t between the splice bar and the rails, either at the head orthe base of the joint and particularly at the head of the joint, is veryundesirable due to the'relatively narrow maximum width of the contactinghead surfaces of the rails` and the bar and because of the transversecurva- (Cl. 23S-243) ture of said surfaces. Accordingly, anotherimportant object of the present invention is to provide a headfree railjoint wherein a condition approximating a perfect initial t, and, in anyevent,

a fairly accurate fit, between the splice bar and 5 the rails isobtained upon tightening of the joint bolts, and wherein this conditionis improved by the action of the joint in service, without the settingup of damaging stresses or strains` in the joint by the joint bolts orby traffic passing over 10 the joint.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a headfree railjoint wherein there is continuous loading engagement, throughout thelength of the joint, between the head of the splice l5 bar and therails, and wherein the areas of base contact between the splice bar andthe rails are, respectively,` at the middle and the ends of the joint,with easements or clearances therebetween,

thereby to most effectively transmit the wave mo- 5,0 tion of the railsthrough the joint and to most effectively transmit the `load to thecross :ties or other supponts usually located under fthe ends of thejoint.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, 25 which will become morefully :apparent as the .nature of the invention is batter understood,the same consists inthe novel splice bar construction, and in the novelcombination of features in a rfheadfree rail joint, las will behereinafter more :3o .fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and ydeiined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like `characters of referencedenote corresponding Vparts in thediierent Views:

` Figure 1 is a side elevation of a headfree rail joint embodying thefeatures of the invention;

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are transverse sections on the 'lines 2 2, 3 3 and 44, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of |a modified form 4.0 of rail joinltwherein the head :of the splice bar `takes an initial relatively narrowloading engage-- menlt at .fthe underside of the rail head.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views respectively on :the lines6 6, 1 7 and 8 8 of 15 Fig. 5;. l Reierringrto Ithe drawings in detail,R, R designate the meeting end pontions 'of :a pair of rails,

veach including, as usual, a 'head Il), a web I l and a base l2; Bdesignates, genenally, a splice bar con- 50 structed in accordance withthe invention :and including, as usual a lhead I3, a web i4 [and a footor base I5, and C designate joint bolts for drawing ,the splice bar intoengagement with the rails.

The splice ybar B may be of any desired sectional 55 shape and, inaccordance with the invention, is preferably formed at its top to haveclearance from the under sides of the rail heads, as indicated .at I6,and at its upper, inner corner to take loading engagement with the headiillerts Il of the rails, its said upper, inner Icorner being rounded,|as indicated at I8, similarly -to the Arounding of the llets I'I, to tsaid llets.

At its base the bar B has flat surface engagement medially, as indicatedat I9, and at its ends, as indicated at 2D, 20, with the upper faces ofthe bases of the rails, but between its middle and its ends said bar hasclearances at its base from the upper faces of the bases of the rails asindicated at 2 I, 2l, said clearances being provided by formingeasements or recesses in the base of the bar in any suitable manner. Theengagements I9 and 2E), 20 may be of any suitable length, but preferablythe medial engagement I9 approximates in length the length of the zoneof maximum wear medially of the joint at the base thereof and extendscontinuously from end to end of said zone. Said engagement, inconjunction with the continuous head engagement of the bar with therails, and in conjunction with the base engagements 20, 20 at the endsof the joint, thus is very effective in supporting the extreme endportions of the rails and transmitting the natural wave motion of therails through the joint. On the other hand, due to the clearances 2|, 2land the consequent flexibility of the joint, the natural wave motion ofthe rails is permitted to pass substantially uninterruptedly through thejoint despite the loading engagement of the head of the bar with therails throughout the length of the joint. Moreover, due to theclearances 2|, 2| and the consequent flexibility of the splice bar, therounded, upper, inner corner of the bar is permitted initially to seatitself, throughout the length of the joint, with the head llets of therails upon normal tightening of the joint bolts and despite anyirregularities in the surfaces of said corner and the rail head filletsand without the imposition by the joint bolts of any undue stresses orstrains in the joint. Furthermore, the clearances 2 I, 2I and theconsequent iiexibility of the splice bar permits relative verticalmovement between the head of the splice bar and the rail heads atlocations above said clearances when loads are imposed on the joint,thereby contributing to the maintenance of an accurate clinging t of thesplice bar with the rails. Still further, the relatively long medialbase engagement I9 of the splice bar with the bases of the railstransmits loads imposed on the extreme ends of the rail heads to thebase of the joint at points spaced well back from the rail ends andtoward the end base engagements 20, 20 through which the load is mostadvantageously transmitted to the usual supports underlying the ends ofthe joint.

While the invention as described in connecton with Figures l, 2, 3 and 4is preferably embodied in a headfree type of rail joint, nevertheless, apractical modification thereof is exempliiied in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8of the drawings. In this modification all of the structural and usefulfeatures are preserved and utilized in connection with a very practicalform of splice bar whose head I3 is provided with a top surface convexlycurved transversely or equivalently formed, to provide a relativelynarrow contact surface 22 in contact with the iiat underside of the railhead. rIhis narrow contact surface 22 on the head of the bar provides ineffect a continuous line contact with the flat underside of the railhead and which line Contact constitutes the sole contact of the head ofthe bar with the rail. The practical purpose of this co-called linecontact 22 for the head of the bar with the underside of the rail headis to provide for initial and subsequent continuous contact of the headof the bar throughout its length with the rail head and while theinitial contact of the head of the splice bar with the rail ispractically a line contact as shown in` Figure 6 of the drawings, suchcontact gradually widens into a surface contact as shown at 228- inFigure 7 which surface lcontact progressively increases in width asindicated at 22b in Figure 8 as wear takes place partly on the undersideof the rail head and partly on the head of the bar until the head of thebar in effect takes a headfree seating in the rail head fillets, asshown in Figure 8. It will therefore be observed that this modificationof the invention shown in Figures to 8 inclusive provides a novel anduseful combination of features which include all of those features whichgive merit to the primary form of the invention shown in Figures l to 4inclusive of the drawings.

Without further descripton it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of c011- struction may be resorted to,without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of theappended claim.

I claim:

A flexing rail joint structure comprising in combination, the rails, thesplice bar and joint bolts for adjustably holding the bar intoengagement with the rails, the said splice bar having at its head anupper rounded contact portion for engagement with the rails andextending uninterruptedly the full length of the bar for continuousloading engagement with the rails throughout the length of the joint,the foot of the said splice bar having a full widthbearing portion forengagement with the rail flanges at the center of the joint throughoutthe zone of maximum wear and full width bearing portions for engagementwith the rail flanges at the ends of the joint, and the said foot of thebar also being provided between the center and each end of the jointwith a recess extending entirely across the underside of the foot of thebar and providing complete clearance from the rail ange at this locationthereby permitting relative vertical movement between the railcontacting head portion of the splice bar above the recess whereby thesplice bar is held to a close t with the rails while permitting railwave motion to pass through the joint.

BANCROFT G. BRAINE.

